SuperFetch

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SuperFetch is a performance enhancement introduced in MicrosoftWindows Vista to reduce the time necessary to launch applications. SuperFetch works with the memory manager service in Windows to analyze memory usage patterns over time to determine the optimal memory content for a given user for a date or time of day. This differs from the Prefetch technique used in Microsoft Windows XP, which preloads data into memory without analyzing usage patterns.

From [1]: SuperFetch prioritizes the following kinds of pages to remain in memory:

Pages of applications that are used most frequently overall.

Pages of applications that are commonly used when resuming:

After extensive hibernation (for example, first thing in the morning).

After shorter periods of sleep or hibernation (for example, after lunch).

If SuperFetch detects that the system drive is a fast SSD (as measured by Windows Experience Index Disk score), then SuperFetch turns off ReadyBoot, ReadyBoost, and the SuperFetch service itself.

Contents

Configuration

Because SuperFetch appears to leave a system with no available memory, some users turn it off to create the appearance of having more free memory. The feature can be configured by changing the Registry value [2]:

A value of zero disables SuperFetch, one enables it for booting only, two for applications, and three for both applications and boot. This setting can also be changed using the Services console, services.msc[3].

File Formats

Data for SuperFetch is gathered by the %SystemRoot%\System32\Sysmain.dll, part of the Service Host process, %SystemRoot%\System32\Svchost.exe, and stored in a series of files in the %SystemRoot%\Prefetch directory [4]. These files appear to start with the prefix Ag and have a .db extension. Note that there are likely more SuperFetch database files named differently, presumably all using the .db extension.

The format of the SuperFetch database files is not fully known, there is available unofficial partial specification [5] and open source (GPL) dumper for .db files [6]. For more information see SuperFetch Format.

The SuperFetch feature is seeded with some basic usage patterns when the operating system is installed [7].